The Honey Factory

[Clearwater Chicken]

hey has anyone here tried to make a support hive? I like this idea and am thinking of getting one to a) raise queens and b) to overwinter colonies to sell in a nucleus, and b) hold queens until i need them to replace poor queens.

 

[chickenchicklady]

Oh I’m so jealous! This is my next venture. Probably next year though!

 

[R2elk]

Oh I’m so jealous! This is my next venture. Probably next year though!

It is good to prepare early.

 

[chickenchicklady]

Yeah, but also I don’t have time for it. We just moved to a new house so I have to figure out how stuff works here and unpack all my crap. The baby chicks keep me pretty busy as it is.

 

[R2elk]

Honey bees and dandelions

 

[duluthralphie]

Quite a load of pollen on that one!

 

[karenerwin]

Heading out in a bit to check my hive. I think I had some other bees trying to gain entry this morning! I saw bee on bee and several dead bees just outside the hive. One bee on bee pair got picked off by a bird! I guess both bees lost that one.
I think my bees did okay. I still have the entry reducer on, so they didn't have as much area to defend.
I took a couple of pictures of the bird. I'll post it here from my phone later to see if any of you know what it is ( if the pictures are good enough to be able to tell). I'm also wondering if a healthy bee hive can withstand the losses from a pair of bee eating birds?

 

[karenerwin]

They built out a lot of comb on the side of the frame feeder.

I don’t think this looks like good pattern. Do you agree? This is from the first brood box. They are building lots of comb on the tops and bottoms of the frames.
I think I need to get my mentor out here to help me look for the Queen. Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed!

 

[Clearwater Chicken]

do the holes contain Larvae? all that space = extra comb. as long as the bee eating birds don't eat a thousand or more a day. which is to say yes they can withstand a pair of birds. for in a strong hive about 1000 hatch out dailiy

 

[karenerwin]

This is one of the bee eating birds. Does anyone know what kind of bird it is?